Download and usage

Download and get started with Stockfish

Get started

1. Download Stockfish from the official page.
   Stockfish is completely free.
2. Download a GUI.
   A GUI (Graphical User Interface) is is needed to conveniently use Stockfish; both free and commercial GUIs exist. Some GUIs provide an opening explorer or automatic game analysis.
3. Install Stockfish into the GUI.
   See that guide for several GUIs; if your GUI isn't listed, follow its manual.
4. Configure Stockfish settings
   Check out our FAQ for recommended settings.

Download Stockfish

Official downloads

Latest release

• https://stockfishchess.org/download/
• https://github.com/official-stockfish/Stockfish/releases/latest

Latest development build

• https://github.com/official-stockfish/Stockfish/releases?q=prerelease%3Atrue

Note

We only recommend downloading from the official GitHub releases.
Websites such as Abrok are third parties, so we cannot guarantee the safety, reliability, and availability of those binaries because we are not responsible for them.

Choose a binary

In order of preference:

1. x86-64-avx512icl
   • Intel: 10th Gen Mobile Core (Ice Lake) and 11th Gen Core (Rocket Lake).
   • AMD: Ryzen 7000 series (Zen 4) and newer.
2. x86-64-vnni512
3. x86-64-avx512
   • Intel: Core i9 X-series (Skylake-X and Cascade Lake-X).
4. x86-64-avxvnni
   • Intel: 12th Gen Core (Alder Lake) and newer.
5. x86-64-bmi2
   • Intel: 4th Gen Core (Haswell) and newer.
   • AMD: Ryzen 5000 series (Zen 3).
6. x86-64-avx2
   • Intel: 4th Gen Core (Haswell) and newer.
   • AMD: Excavator, Ryzen 1000 (Zen), 2000 (Zen+), and 3000 (Zen 2) series.
7. x86-64-sse41-popcnt
   • Intel: (2008+). 1st to 3rd Gen Core.
   • AMD: (2011+). Bulldozer, Piledriver, and Steamroller (FX series).
8. x86-64
   • Any 64-bit capable processor but offers the least performance.

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Download a Chess GUI

A chess graphical user interface allows you to interact with the engine in a user-friendly way. Popular GUIs are:

Free

Computer

En Croissant (source code) How to install Stockfish Change settings	Nibbler (source code) How to install Stockfish Change settings
Arena How to install Stockfish Change settings	Lichess Local Engine (source code) (WIP) How to install Stockfish Change settings
BanksiaGUI	Cutechess (source code)
ChessX (source code)	LiGround (source code)
Lucas Chess (source code)	Scid vs. PC (source code)
XBoard (source code)	jose (source code) How to install Stockfish

Mobile

DroidFish (source code)	SmallFish
Chessis

Paid

Chessbase	Hiarcs
Shredder

Online

Note

If you don't want to download a GUI, you can also use some of the available online interfaces. Keep in mind that you might not get the latest version of Stockfish, settings might be limited and speed will be slower.

Lichess Change settings	Chess.com Change settings
ChessMonitor	Chessify
DecodeChess

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Install in a Chess GUI

En Croissant

Engines tab > Add new > Install Stockfish

Arena

1. Engines > Install New Engine...

   

2. Select and open the Stockfish executable

   

Nibbler

1. Engine > Choose engine...

   

2. Select and open the Stockfish executable

   

Lichess Local Engine

1. Log in with Lichess

   

   

2. Click the Install Stockfish button

   

3. Go to the Lichess analysis page

   https://lichess.org/analysis

4. Select the engine from the engine list

   

jose

Stockfish is already bundled with jose. To enable it for play and analysis do:

1. Edit > Options (F9)
2. select the 'Engine' tab
3. select Stockfish in the list of engines
4. below, you can edit all the engine parameters

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Change settings

Note

Please check our FAQ guide to set the optimal settings.

Arena

Note

First uncheck these two settings

Right click in the engine name > Configure

Nibbler

Open the Engine menu

En Croissant

Select Stockfish in the engines tab

or open the engine settings in the Analysis board

Lichess

Open the engine settings

Chess.com

Click the settings button in the analysis page